Belarusian embassy in Australia to cease operation in August

MINSK, 23 April (BelTA) – The Embassy of Belarus in Australia with concurrent accreditation to New Zealand will be shut down by the end of August 2018, BelTA learned from the embassy's website.

The embassy will be closed as part of the effort meant to optimize the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the time that remains the embassy will continue taking documents to perform the following functions: the issuance of entry visas — till 8 August, laissez-passers — till 10 July, document retrieval services, for instance, certificates of clean criminal record — till 10 May, extension of the validity period of Belarusian citizen passports — till 10 July, consular registration procedures — till 27 July, performance of notarial actions — till 8 August.

Once the embassy is shut down, Belarusian citizens will have to contact the nearest diplomatic mission — in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Records of citizens registered with the consular service in the Embassy of Belarus in Australia will be transferred to the Embassy of Belarus in Indonesia. Applications for consular service registration at a different location are to be submitted to the Embassy of Belarus in Australia by 1 June 2018.

The Belarusian embassy in Australia will continue protecting rights and interests of Belarusian citizens in line with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations right until it is closed.